Oregon’s Mental Health Crisis: What Makes it One of the Worst States in America?

Oregon has a high rate of mental illness, but an average number of psychiatric treatment beds per capita. Salvador Martinez-Romero’s case highlights the strain on the state’s mental health system, which struggles to accommodate the increasing number of mentally ill criminal defendants sent to Oregon State Hospital. Patients judged incompetent to stand trial are now limited to a maximum stay of one year. What makes Oregon one of the worst states in America for Mental Illness? For more information, Lars speaks with Nigel Jaquiss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for Willamette Week.